Efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production by Mn0.05Cd0.95S nanoparticles anchored on cubic NiSe2

Abstract

In the field of catalysis, three critical factors for evaluating catalyst activity include charge separation efficiency, photoabsorption, and surface activity sites. In this work, we designed novel effective Mn0.05Cd0.95S/NiSe2photocatalysts, which were formed by Mn0.05Cd0.95S (MCS) nanoparticles anchored on the outer surface of cubic NiSe2. The optimum hydrogen evolution rate of the Mn0.05Cd0.95S/NiSe2composite is 14.3 mmol h−1g−1, which is 7.5 times higher than that of single Mn0.05Cd0.95S. Multiple characterization techniques (XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, PL,etc.) were performed to research the properties of the composite catalyst and propose a possible mechanism for hydrogen production by NiSe2/Mn0.05Cd0.95S. Structural analyses and experimental results reveal that attaching MCS particles to the surface of NiSe2can significantly increase the visible light absorption capacity. Cubic NiSe2can efficiently facilitate the separation of electron-hole pairs and expose abundant active sites for photocatalytic redox reactions. This work demonstrates that low-cost NiSe2is a promising co-catalyst for the photocatalytic splitting of water to produce hydrogen.